Pretty Little Princesses
by BlazingWillow
Summary: This is a story where the four little liars has borrowed the lives of well-known Disney princesses. It will follow some of what's happened in the show as well as the princesses tales. EZRIA/HALEB/SPOBY/EMAYA and more!
1. Beyond the Eastern Shadows

**Pretty Little Princesses**

_So this is just an idea that I had; what if the liars where Disney princesses? So I wrote all the PLL characters into different Disney princess stories, so each of the four girls is a princess and I've created their story so that it reflects both the PLL girl and the princess she's portraying. This first chapter is entirely about Aria, any guesses which princess she's supposed to be? One last thing: reviews are very appreciated! _

**Prologue – A Lost Princess**

Princess Alison was a beautiful blonde girl with many admirers. She liked the attention – in fact, she _loved _the attention – but saw it all as a game. She liked to play around with the many boys, collected secrets from them. She was probably the most knowing person in the five kingdoms – Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Origon. Alison's mother and father were the king and queen of the centered kingdom, Origon, which was the biggest of the five kingdoms.

Not only did Alison have admirers and toys from all the kingdoms, she had also hand-picked four friends – one from each of the kingdoms. These friends where princesses, nothing less, but where still honored to be friends with Alison seeing as she was the princess of the biggest kingdom. There was only one thing; these friends of hers did not know of each other. And they were all under the impression that they were her one and only best friend.

Now being the most beautiful, most loved and, first and foremost, most secretive princess, people would definitely go after her. And one autumn morning, when the trees had been painted bright yellow and red, Alison had vanished without a trace.

At first the king and queen thought Alison had been kidnapped and that the kidnapper wanted gold or treasure in return for giving them their daughter back. But as no message came they grew more and more worried until the day that they just assumed she was dead.

**Chapter 1 – Beyond the Eastern Shadows**

Aria, princess of the Eastern Kingdom, did not have a very interesting life. Some people would even call it boring. All she did was her duties as a princess and listen to her younger brother Mike's arguments about anything and everything he thought was unfair. His sister becoming the queen for example, he saw it more fitting for him to become king. Some days Aria wanted to walk over to her brother and tell him that he could have it all, she didn't really want it anyway. But she kept quiet as a good girl should. She kept quiet about a lot of things lately, like how it hurt to stand by the window and watch the colorful trees outside. It made her think about a year ago when her close friend Alison, the princess of Origon, had disappeared. She was still gone, and people where still looking.

But it wasn't just that. Last autumn, before Alison had disappeared, she accidentally saw her father, King Byron, kiss someone who was most definitely not her mother. And that's when she begun to keep quiet. Her father had asked her – begged her – not to tell her mother, and she didn't tell her. As much as she regretted it now, she hadn't told her. It was constantly haunting her mind. Why had her father been kissing that girl – Meredith, her name was Meredith – and why hadn't Aria told her mother Ella? She deserved to know. _Know what? _That her beloved husband was cheating on her with a young blonde and there was nothing she could do about it? It would only cause misery, that's what Aria had told herself when she decided to shut her mouth. And what if the word had spread through the kingdom, then her family's' reputation would've been ruined.

Aria wasn't one to care what people thought about her, but if the Eastern Kingdom knew this… she didn't even dare think about it. So Aria kept quiet, pretending that nothing was wrong. And it worked on the outside, but on the inside she was wrecked. The fact that her only friend had gone missing just a month after she'd caught her dad with Meredith did not make the situation any better.

Alison was a strange girl in many ways. She was very secretive and liked to brag about things she _couldn't _tell. So Aria caught herself thinking about how she never really knew this girl who was supposed to have been her best friend. And Alison knew _everything _about Aria, every little detail.

Aria was sure that if she didn't move away from her bedroom window soon she'd start to cry, so she pulled herself away from the sight of red and yellow treetops.

**~BlueBelle03~**

"Ouch!" Aria flinched as a needle accidentally touched her porcelain skin. Aria was wearing a beautiful golden gown with loose-fitting shoulders that was being sewed to fit her perfectly. There was a big ball coming up and her parents wanted to make sure that their daughter looked stunning. Aria on the other hand liked it better when she put together old dresses, mixing colors and patterns no one would've thought of putting together. But as the good girl she tried to be she stood like a statue while the golden dress was being edited.

"My apologies, my princess," the sewer said. Aria managed a weak smile as if to say that it's okay. The sewer kept sewing and Aria kept standing still. Playing the mannequin game was one of Aria's least favorites. Her interests laid in a completely different direction where reading and learning was on top of the list. Aria loved books, that was a fact. And she loved to learn new things about the world. To live in a world without any knowledge about it must be extremely boring.

"Aria, honey, you look great." Queen Ella walked into the room with a smile upon her face. Aria pushed her luck and tried to manage another smile. This one came of more as a grimace, but Ella didn't comment. "I thought you'd look good in yellow."

"I guess."

The ball that she had to attend to in her current dress was held two nights from tonight and was the annual Autumn Ball. Each of the kingdoms – except for Origon – was responsible for an annual ball. Eastern Kingdom had the Autumn Ball, Northern Kingdom the Winter Ball, Western Kingdom the Spring Ball and Southern Kingdom had the Summer Ball. The yellow colored dress was its color because of the fact that it was the Autumn Ball she was attending in it.

Aria usually liked to go to balls and dance, but this past year she hadn't really been herself. The way she felt right now told her something about not wanting to go. But her mother would be so disappointed. Besides, a ball was the perfect place to meet someone with husband potential. She knew that as a sixteen-year-old she needed to marry, and that soon. Her parents had waited with unbelievable patience, but Aria knew very well that the time now was up.

"Aria, have you thought about, you know, looking for a… husband?" Ella said carefully. She froze for a second; it was as if her mother had read her thoughts.

"I should probably do that, huh?" Aria sighed. She crawled out of her dress and put on her other dress. The sewer hung up the golden gown and quietly left the room.

"Your father and I, we don't want to push you. That is the last thing we want to do but–"

"Mother, it is fine. I will keep my eyes open for a decent man who I can see as a potential friend. I don't want someone I can't stand and I don't think I will just look at someone and fall in love. I think love is out of the question, but a friend is the least you can let me have."

"Of course," Ella murmured. "It makes perfectly sense, I don't see why not. But there is however some bad news."

"Bad news?" Aria echoed.

"You need to find a husband or one will be decided for you."

Aria's eyes narrowed. One will be _decided? _She felt as if the oxygen was pulled out of her lungs.

"Would you excuse me for a second?" Aria said and hurried away. She didn't stop until she came to her bedroom. She pulled out a book from her bookshelf and started reading; she needed to think about something else. Anything but the pressure. Today was definitely one of those days she'd like to make her brother the older, he'd like that and so would she.

The book was not what Aria had expected. It was a dark story – a legend, in fact – about the old castle beyond the Eastern shadows. Legend had it that the reason no one dared to go near the castle was because it was lived in by a terrible beast who did not like to be disturbed and showed no mercy to unwanted visitors. Of course, Aria thought, it was probably just a story to scare children from going there. It could be dangerous to go to an old castle all by yourself, you could get lost.

Looking from Aria's bedroom window she could see the highest towers of the castle beyond the shadow that hugged the outer parts of the Eastern Kingdom. That's why it was called the Eastern shadow, because the whole Eastern Kingdom was surrounded by its thick fog. Aria had never went beyond the shadow except for when her family attended the annual balls, but then they were riding in a carriage drawn by horses. What if she tried to walk there and find out what that castle was all about?

_No! _She said to herself. _You're _not _planning a trip to the old Eastern castle, that's not happening!_

But looking out at the castle, Aria couldn't help but notice her thirst for adventure.

**~BlueBelle03~**

The ball approached quickly and Aria was dancing with strangers in her yellow and golden gown. Aria told herself to at least _pretend _to have fun and it might fool herself. It did, a little. But the problem remained as she couldn't seem to find someone she'd like to spend the rest of her life with. She knew it would be hard, but this was ridiculous. How can everyone in here be so self-centered or uninterested in the things she loved the most?

If Alison would have been here they would have joked about that, of people's outfits, or something they overheard. She missed her friend so much.

Her father tapped her on the shoulder. "Aria, I'd like to introduce you to Lord Kahn's son; Noel."

Aria turned and faced this Noel. He was handsome, indeed, with his thick dark hair and gorgeous smile.

"Pleasure."

"Could I have the honor?" Noel said and gave Aria his hand. They walked to the middle of the floor and begun dancing.

"I hear you're searching for a husband," he said with a smirk. Aria didn't have anything against Noel – yet – but she felt this kind of tension. Aria summoned her voice to speak.

"I guess I am," she answered, "it's time, I guess."

"Probably." Noel gave her a dazzling smile. "Considering what a beautiful princess you are." Aria's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and her eyes darted to the floor.

Aria continued dancing with Noel and then she excused herself to the bathroom. Only she didn't go to the bathroom. She just needed an excuse to get away from all the craziness they called fun. This was actually the first of the annual balls she'd attended since Alison's disappearance. She had dodged the winter ball, the spring ball and the summer ball by pretending to be sick. But she couldn't escape the autumn ball. Her parents would drag her to this ball whether she was sick or not.

She collapsed onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling where yellow stars were painted. She had to go back soon, she knew that. But she really, _really, _didn't want to. Without thinking she glanced over at the window. Even though it was dark she could still make out the high towers in the distance. _What if _she would go there?Was it insane to even think that? But _what if?_

Life is what you make it to, not what anyone else tells you it is! Aria stumbled off her bed and snuck out of her room. Everyone was in the ballroom, so she shouldn't worry about anyone seeing her. But she couldn't be too careful. Her parents would come looking for her when they notice that she has been gone for too long. And they would get worried when they wouldn't be able to find her in the castle. But that was something for her to worry about at dawn, because that's when she expected to be home again, safe and sound in her room.

Aria managed to exit the castle without anyone noticing. She had completely forgotten to change clothes and was still wearing the yellow dress from the ball and heels that where meant for dancing, not walking around in the woods in the middle of the night.

The forest might be deep and dark with who knows what kind of animals living in it, but Aria was not at all afraid. She was not the little girl that got scared – well, she was little, but definitely not scared – and her curiosity was growing with each step she took.

Aria fell a couple of times, tore her dress and bruised her chin. But soon enough she emerged to the castle. It had not been easy to find it behind the thick wall of fog. The old Eastern castle was even bigger now that Aria was standing so close.

Without hesitation she carefully opened the creaking door. It was dark inside the castle and she couldn't see anything. Then the door closed behind her with a loud bang that made Aria jump ten feet.

Then she saw something else. Someone was watching her from the shadows.

_**To be continued…**_

_(In the next chapter we will meet Hanna)_


	2. Wicked Witch of the South

_**I am sooo sorry for taking so long to update. I blame the fact that I've been in England for two weeks and I haven't had time to write. Also, this chapter was one of those that I don't really have that much planned for. I'm afraid that Hanna's story isn't that interesting yet – but it gets better later in the story. And I'm sorry that this chapter really sucks! Next one will be better, I promise!**_

_**Another thing; thank you all sooooo much for reviewing the last chapter, you're reviews were amazing. I am also thankful for all the favs and follows, THANK YOU!**_

_**And to those of you that guessed that Aria was 'the beauty' (or Belle as she's really called) was right! A question for this chapter is of course; who is Hanna supposed to be?**_

**Chapter 2 – Wicked Witch of the South**

"Doesn't it look gorgeous?" said Isabelle who was dressed in a white wedding dress. She twirled a couple of times in front of the big mirror. Her daughter Kate smiled at her mother, "Absolutely stunning."

Hanna just sat quietly and waited for this to be over – not just trying on the dresses, but the whole thing; the wedding, the marriage, _everything_. She didn't doubt her father much, but the decision to marry Isabelle was insanity. She wasn't even nice, and her daughter was even worse. Now they were going to be part of her family and she was going to be stuck with them for life.

"Hanna, what do you think?" Isabelle turned to her soon-to-be step-daughter. Hanna forced a smile – even though she wanted to puke – and told Isabelle how great the dress looked. In reality, Hanna thought, Isabelle looked like a rat no matter what she was wearing.

"Mother the wedding tomorrow will be fantastic. You will look so great next to the _king_," said Kate with a grin. The way she had said _king_, it was like a confirmation to what Hanna had already suspected; Isabelle was only marrying her father because he was king. Of course, her father would never listen to her if she tried to accuse her soon-to-be step-mother of having other motives than love for marrying him. He would be heart-broken that she would think of such a thing, so it would do none of them any good.

Isabelle was as wicked as a witch, only without the powers. If she'd had powers, then everything she'd touch would rot. Hanna was sure of it. When she – or Kate for that matter – spoke it was like venom, that was how much Hanna despised them.

"I'm so sorry, I have to leave." Hanna rose from her chair, giving each of the monsters an apologizing smile, and walked away. _Finally, _she thought, she couldn't stand another second in the same room as Isabelle and Kate. It was pure torture.

Hanna was so busy hating her new family members that she didn't see where she walked and stumbled into her father.

"Hanna? Shouldn't you be trying on your dress for the wedding?" Tom asked in surprise.

"I'm done."

"You are?"

"Yeah," said Hanna, "I've got some really important stuff to look over, so if you would excuse me." Tom looked at her doubtfully but let her pass. He knew his daughter; he knew how stubborn she could be.

Hanna went straight outside. As she came out into the fresh air she immediately saw Mona, her best friend.

"Mona, thank God." Hanna hugged her friend. "How'd you know I wanted you to be here?"

"Please, I knew you'd need me considering the wicked witch and her wicked daughter is inside."

"You got that one right."

"At least there is one thing they can't take away from you," said Mona, "even though they've already taken away your father, your family, your home–"

"So what's left?"

"Your birthright."

Hanna thought about it for a second. Mona was right; she was still the rightful heir to the throne. She was an only child and Kate was not older than Hanna. But it was years and years until Hanna would sit on that throne. First her father must die, but that is something Hanna didn't even want to think about. Then Isabelle must die too, that was a much happier thought. But if Isabelle was gone she wouldn't even have these problems.

"My birthright doesn't help at all in this case, Mona," said Hanna with a sigh. Mona cocked her head and studied her fried. "I know, but it might be more helpful than you think."

Hanna loved Mona, she was her best friend. But sometimes she didn't understand a word that was coming out of her mouth. Kind of like with Alison, her former best friend. Alison was very mysterious, but at times she seemed to be the only one making any sense. Gods she missed her. When Hanna heard that Alison had vanished without a trace she thought that she might've just run away and soon enough she would appear at her doorstep begging Hanna to come with her. But that never happened. Alison had disappeared forever. She was most likely dead, buried in the dirt, never to be seen again.

Hanna missed the days when Alison was around, even though she was strange. Alison liked to come and go as she pleased, but she was, in fact, a great friend. Hanna always felt like she could open up to Alison about anything and Alison listened and gave advice. A year ago Hanna was plenty sizes bigger, she hated it, it did not fit for a princess, she thought. But Alison had kindly shown Hanna the way to a thinner body she could be proud of. Some people would say it's dangerous, others would just call it cheating, but throwing up made Hanna feel better, and that's what counted. No one else needed to know how Hanna had become skinny so fast.

Alison being around Hanna was a great motivation to look better; Hanna wanted to look just like her. Now she had a new motivation; Kate.

Kate was pretty, no doubt, with her blonde hair and thin waist. There was absolutely no way that Hanna would let the kingdom think Kate was prettier than her. Hanna was, after all, the princess. Kate was just a soon-to-be-princess because of her mother's marriage to Hanna's father.

Busy with her thoughts, Hanna didn't look where she was going and stumbled into someone. Looking up she saw no one other than her evil soon-to-be-step-sister. Kate stared at Hanna, annoyance clouding her eyes as she spoke, "Watch where you're going, clumsy," she hissed.

"Watch it yourself," Hanna was in no mood for Kate's 'I'm so perfect – I never make any mistakes' act.

"Clearly I'm not the one stumble into other people. I could've fallen, I could've gotten hurt."

Hanna frowned. "You stumbled into me just as much as I stumbled into you."

"Oh really?"

"Listen Kate," said Hanna, "you can't come here, to _my _home, and tell _me _what I can and cannot do. You don't get to do that."

"Don't you get it, _sis? _I live here now, I make the rules and the only thing you get to do is follow them. There's more than one way I can make you look bad in front of your beloved father." With that said, Kate marched away with a wicked grin upon her face. Hanna's brain formed all kinds of murderous thoughts while looking at the other blonde walking away from her. If Kate thought she won this round, then think again. This round was far from over, it had just started.

**~BlueBelle03~**

"Hanna, are you ready to leave?" asked her father, knocking on his daughter's door.

"Just a minute," answered Hanna, twirling once more in front of her mirror. The beige dress with golden glitter fit her perfectly. She was most definitely going to out dress Kate tonight at the annual Autumn Ball at the Eastern Castle. Hanna came out of her room, golden blonde locks bouncing on her shoulders.

"You look beautiful," said Tom while planting a kiss on his daughters hand.

"Thank you, father." Hanna gave him a sweet smile and followed him down to the carriage.

As usual the Autumn Ball was bursting with colorful dresses, just like the autumn itself. Hanna's beige dress might be seen as boring, but she thought it was stylish.

Rumor had it that Princess Aria of the Eastern Kingdom was to choose a prince tonight. Hanna couldn't believe she didn't already have a fiancée like she did. She had Sean, son of Lord Ackard – a great friend of the family. Hanna and Sean was the perfect couple, or so Hanna thought, they looked great together.

"Care to dance?" Sean asked and offered Hanna his hand. Smiling she took it and Sean led her out to the dance floor. He was a perfect gentleman. Hanna and Sean danced for a while in silence and when the dance ended he planted a light kiss on her lips.

Yes, Sean was a great fiancé, he was handsome and polite. But Hanna couldn't shake off the feeling that he didn't care about her as more than a friend.

"You're only doing this because of your father, aren't you?"

"What? No –" Sean looked upset. "Hanna, why would you think that?"

"It's just," said Hanna, looking down at the floor, not daring to meet his gaze. "You don't have to lie to me Sean; I know you only see me as a friend." Hanna's voice hit the edge. "It's only 'cause your father wants you to marry me that –"

"Would you stop it?" Sean looked angry, sounded angry. "You don't know anything about my father. Why would you accuse me all of a sudden? What was it that even got you _thinking _about this?"

Hanna still didn't dare look into his eyes. She felt as if she was going to burst out crying any second. This was not how she'd planned the evening. She didn't know why she had brought this up. Sean had always been good to her and this is how she repays him? By accusing him? The only excuse Hanna could find was that she wasn't her best self tonight. After everything that had happened with Kate and Isabelle and the wedding that was approaching. Nothing felt right at the moment and Hanna wanted to just curl up under a blanket and cry for some days.

Hanna looked up at Sean just to see him leave her side with a disappointed look in his eyes. Hanna was left completely alone in the middle of the ballroom.

Suddenly a wave of confusion washed through the room. All eyes of the crowed searched around for something – or someone? – and Hanna had no idea what it was. She had been so busy with Sean that she hadn't noticed that something clearly had happened in here.

Hanna's confusion must have shown since a dark-haired girl, with fairly tan skin, dressed in a red strapless gown spoke about the events with her eyes locked at Hanna.

"Did you hear?" said the girl, "the princess is missing."

Hanna raised an eyebrow. "Missing?" she said, "what do you mean missing?"

"Gone. Nowhere to be found. She might've just escaped the ball, but considering the fact that a princess went missing last year – and never showed up – makes me understand why everyone looks so terrified."

Hanna studied the girl for a moment. "Who are you?"

"Emily," she said, "but most people just refer to me as 'the princess of the Northern Kingdom.'"

"Hanna," said Hanna, "and I happen to be of royal importance too."

"Really?"

"It's true. I'm actually, as you so nicely put it, 'the princess of the Southern Kingdom.'"

"Can you believe it; two of the four princesses meet talking about a third missing princess?" Emily shot Hanna a smile.

"So what do you know of her?" asked Hanna. "I mean, the missing princess."

"Well," said Emily, "her name's Aria and she's from here–"

"The Eastern Kingdom?"

"Exactly. But I'm afraid that's all I know."

Hanna barely knew the girl, but something about her made Hanna… happy? Was that even the right word to use? However, Hanna would have no problem being friends with the brown-haired beauty.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting, but I heard you say you were Princess Hanna," an unknown man said. Hanna just nodded slowly. "You have to come quickly. The King from South collapsed on the floor."

Hanna didn't need to hear more, she followed the man to where her father laid unconscious on the floor. Isabelle was by his side looking falsely worried.

"Tom? Tom?" she said while shaking him.

"Father!" Hanna rushed to her father side and bent down to listen for a heartbeat. Luckily he was still alive.

"Someone do something," Hanna cried, "please."

**~BlueBelle03~**

"He's alive and well – for now," the house doctor said. The Marins had all gone back home to make sure that the King was alright. Right now Hanna's father laid in his bed while the doctor informed Isabelle. Little did they know that Hanna listened.

"For now?" Isabelle asked."

"Well, the King is sick and there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry."

"He's dying?"

"I'm afraid so."

_No, _Hanna thought, _this was not happening. Her father was _not _dying, he wasn't. There was a mistake. He was not dying. _But it didn't matter how much Hanna wished what she'd just heard wasn't true, because it was and there was not a single thing she could do about it.

"Don't tell him," Isabelle demanded.

_Don't tell him? Are you insane? _Hanna was about to explode. It took everything she had to stand still and not rush over there and give her soon-to-be-step-mother a piece of her mind.

"May I ask why not?" the doctor asked.

"I'll tell him myself."

"As you wish."

She wouldn't tell him, Hanna was sure. _But why?_ Then it hit her; Her soon-to-be-step-mother – the wicked witch, as she liked to call her – was not telling the King he was dying because she was about to marry him. And when he dies she will be the one and only ruler of the South.

**To be continued…**

_**(Again I am so sorry that this chapter sucks.)**_

_**Next chapter will be all about our little Emily. But I have to warn you that it might take some time before an update due to school starting again tomorrow. I'll **_**try **_**to update soon.**_


	3. Frost

**A/N: **_Thank you all so much for the reviews! You guys are WAY too nice! But I won't complain! I'm sorry it took so long, but I've been busy with school. Besides, I always think that first chapters are the hardest to write and this story happens to have four first chapters. I'm pretty pleased with how this chapter turned out and I hope you'll like it too. As usual I have to mention that Hanna is Cinderella (the royal version, indeed.) The new question won't be a surprise; who is Emily?_

**Chapter 3 – Frost**

The autumn had just about started but there was already frost on the ground. Winter was early in the Northern Kingdom, as usual. It wasn't the fact that it was cold that bothered Emily, it wasn't that that made her sad when she saw this year's first frost. No, it was that just a year ago – the same day that the first frost had paid a visit to the Northern Kingdom – her best friend had disappeared.

Half a year after that her father had tragically passed away. Emily was left only with her step-mother, Queen Pam, who treated her unfairly and always tried to tell her what was right or wrong. What Emily missed the most was making up her own mind about things, now she had her step-mother looking over her shoulder saying that she wasn't good enough.

Emily didn't get many years with her mother, but she remembered her voice always reminding her that she was as beautiful as you could get when she felt insecure, it always made her five-year-old self feel better.

Alison – her former best friend that disappeared, and was probably dead – used to say that she loved Emily because nobody adored her as much as she did. Emily would blush and look at the ground. Alison said that Emily could trust her with anything, and she made it feel easy to share her deepest, darkest secrets with her. Their friendship couldn't have been better.

There was however one thing that Emily desperately wished she could take back; once when they had met up by the lake Alison had told Emily a story. It was very touching and she'd made it feel like every single word was directed at Emily. Before she could stop herself she had kissed her friend. A few days later Alison had made it clear that Emily was no more than a friend and that she wasn't interested in girls, besides, it was forbidden. Emily had told herself that it didn't matter, Alison was just a dear friend and Emily had mistaken her own emotions for love when, in reality, it had only been strong friendship.

This year's frost pain was a certain visitor. Queen Pam had promised Emily's hand to some Ben and today he and his sister was moving in. The wedding was happening in three days.

To be forced into a marriage was pure pain for Emily, she liked to be free. Her father used to take her swimming in a nearby lake. Emily loved how the water hugged her body and she felt completely free. Freedom was the only thing Emily ever wanted out of life.

But freedom may also be the only thing she couldn't have. Pam never let her do anything outside the castle. Then there was the previously mentioned forced marriage. Freedom and Emily Fields did not go hand in hand.

**~BlueBelle03~**

There was still some time before Emily's fiancé and soon-to-be-sister-in-law was supposed to arrive, so Emily decided to pay a visit to the winter garden. The winter garden was a beautiful garden outside the castle where nothing grew during winter – except the apple trees. The apple trees in the winter garden grew all year and gave the biggest, reddest apples in the kingdom. It was Emily's father, Wayne, who had planted the trees.

Emily loved how the frost covered the trees and the ground, leaving the apples to be the only color in the whole garden. Well, that was during winter. In the summer the garden was green, yellow, purple, red, orange and lots of other colors, you name it. It was very beautiful, indeed, but Emily still preferred the winter wonderland.

"Emily," a voice yelled, "there you are."

She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Her step-mother was a control freak who wanted to control her every move.

As Pam had made her way to where Emily was standing she excitedly spoke, "They're here."

Emily had no such thing as a choice – it was a foreign word for her – and had to follow her step-mother to greet her fiancé, pretending that she was even half as exited as Pam.

"You must be Emily," Ben said and took her hand to his mouth, planting a light kiss on her knuckles.

"Um, yeah," said Emily.

Emily cast a look behind Ben and noticed a short, dark-haired girl. The girl looked up and their eyes locked.

"Emily, this is my sister, Maya," said Ben who had noticed that his fiancée wasn't paying much attention to himself anymore.

"Nice to meet you." Maya smiled widely. "I've heard _so much _about this place. I can't explain how great it is to be here."

Emily couldn't do anything else but smile at this over-excited girl. "You know, it's not as good of a place as they say," she said with a wink. "Very cold."

"I noticed that when we arrived, believe me. I thought I was about to freeze to death." Maya laughed.

It was silent for a couple of seconds, but then Maya spoke again, "How about you show me around?"

Emily and Maya walked around the castle. Emily spoke about the old building and Maya listened to every word. She even showed Maya all the secret passages and hidden rooms. Soon enough they approached the winter garden.

"It's beautiful," Maya whispered. Her eyes hungrily bounced around the garden, taking in everything at once.

"It's the winter garden," Emily explained, "the apple trees are the –"

"– only thing that grows during winter," Maya finished.

"How did you know that?"

"Like I said; I've heard a lot about this place."

Emily and Maya sat down next to each other on a bench under one of the many apple trees. The sun lighted up Maya's soft olive skin and she let her dark hair out, letting it fall down in messy curls. It hit Emily how beautiful this girl was.

"So what do you like doing, Emily?" As usual, Maya smiled as she spoke.

Emily didn't know what to say, she had become unable to speak a word. "I, um, I –"

"There's got to be something you enjoy."

"Of course," Emily managed. "I used to swim a lot with my father. There's a lake not too far away from here."

"I bet you're good," said Maya, "at swimming, I mean."

Emily's cheeks reddened. "I'd like to think so, yeah."

It was plenty uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time to be around Maya. When she talked she sounded so encouraging, supporting even. As if she and Emily had known each other for a long time, when in real life they'd just met today. But it was, indeed, a comforting thought to know that she could trust this girl. _Could she? _That was the uncomfortable part; she didn't know.

"You have to take me sometime."

Emily was pulled back to reality. "W-what?"

"To the lake," Maya explained. "I'd love you to take me."

"Yeah, of course."

Why Maya was so eager to see whatever Emily mentioned would forever be a mystery to her, but Emily liked it. On some level it made her feel appreciated. But even so, this girl might just be the death of her.

**~BlueBelle03~**

Emily couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned in her bed. She shut her eyes hard as if that would make it easier to fall asleep – in reality, it only made it worse. She tried lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling but found herself searching for patterns in the stone ceiling. She also tried lying on the side but then the view from the window chanted _watch me, _and Emily did. She looked out at the beautiful, glistering stars. So no, Emily could not sleep that night. There was too much distraction, the biggest one being her thoughts. And most of those thought circled around one object – one person – Maya.

Maya was beautiful, or so Emily thought. But was it envy or admiration that led her to see that? Not that Emily had ever been the jealous type of girl. But there was a lot about this girl that Emily wished to be. She was fun, outgoing and constantly smiled – she seemed happy most of the time. Emily could only dream of being happy. Well, except there's no dreaming if there's no sleeping. If only she could sleep that night. But sleeping was filed somewhere between _forget it _and _not happening_. So Emily remained awake for the whole night.

The next morning she was anything but well rested. The darkness below her eyes was hard to miss and her constant yawning also hinted at her sleepless night. Maya was the first one to speak a word about it.

"You look tired," she stated.

"Yeah," Emily said with a yawn. "I _am _tired."

"Couldn't sleep?"

Emily nodded.

"Nightmares?"

"I wish, then at least I'd gotten some sleep. I just couldn't sleep – at all." _And it's all your fault, _she almost wanted to add. But that would be stupid for two reasons; one being that she can't possibly blame Maya for taking up her thoughts and the other reason being that she'd then have to explain _why _she was thinking about Maya in the first place – and that was something she didn't even know how to explain to herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Maya smiled apologetic. Emily stared at the dark-haired girl in horror. It was as if she'd just read her thoughts. _Why in hell was this girl apologizing?_

"For what?"

"That you had a bad sleep, what else?" Maya looked confused.

"Yeah, of course, my bad. Thank you." Having said that Emily hurried away from Maya. It was entirely too dangerous to be around her.

Emily escaped to the winter garden. The wind was still and the frost still colored the ground white. But it wasn't all too cold. Emily longed for the snow to fall, then her so-called frost pain would be through with and her beloved tick layer of white would decorate the kingdom. The winter was the time of the winter ball, her kingdoms pride and joy.

"Mind if I steal an apple?" Suddenly Maya stood beside her, she'd come from nowhere. "Or are they poisonous?"

Emily was to shocked to speak at first, but then she came to her senses. "Go ahead."

Maya took one of the red apples and bit of a huge bite. "These are delicious," she said as she ate. She sat down next to Emily on a stone bench.

"Yeah, they –" Emily trailed off when Maya looked at her. _Damn it Emily, _she thought, _just act like a normal person for God's sake. _Maya continued eating her apple looking happy as usual. Envy was definitely the word. Emily was envious of Maya's happiness.

"You where saying?" Maya asked. Emily opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. They two girls stared at each other in silence in an eternity before –

Maybe it was Maya, or maybe it was Emily, who had accidentally leaned in too close. Maybe one of them had accidentally closed the distance between their lips. Maybe their lips where all over each other, or maybe this was just a dream? Emily wasn't sure anymore. This could just _not _be happening. This was _bad_. If someone found out that the two of them girls had shared a kiss it would be scandalous. Add the fact that she's a princess who's about to marry this girl's very own brother. This was a disaster.

Emily ended the kiss as fast as it had begun and looked at Maya with pure terror in her eyes. "You can't tell anyone."

"Emily, I'm not stupid, I wouldn't –"

"You can't! If anyone found out that we, that I –"

"I know, Emily, I know. Don't worry, I never kiss and tell." Maya winked and left, leaving Emily in the suddenly cold winter garden.


End file.
